US5905748A - Single mode laser and method suitable for use in frequency multiplied - Google Patents

Single mode laser and method suitable for use in frequency multiplied Download PDF

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US5905748A
US5905748A US08/861,372 US86137297A US5905748A US 5905748 A US5905748 A US 5905748A US 86137297 A US86137297 A US 86137297A US 5905748 A US5905748 A US 5905748A
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birefringent
light path
light
fundamental wavelength
laser
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Ping Xie
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UNIPJASE Corp
Viavi Solutions Inc
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Uniphase Corp
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Priority to US08/861,372 priority Critical patent/US5905748A/en
Priority to CA002289695A priority patent/CA2289695C/en
Priority to AU75958/98A priority patent/AU7595898A/en
Priority to PCT/US1998/010632 priority patent/WO1998054803A1/en
Priority to EP98923740A priority patent/EP0985257A1/en
Priority to JP11500798A priority patent/JP2000513155A/ja
Priority to CN98805504A priority patent/CN1258390A/zh
Priority to US09/290,130 priority patent/US5995523A/en
Publication of US5905748A publication Critical patent/US5905748A/en
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/05—Construction or shape of optical resonators; Accommodation of active medium therein; Shape of active medium
    • H01S3/08—Construction or shape of optical resonators or components thereof
    • H01S3/08018—Mode suppression
    • H01S3/08022—Longitudinal modes
    • H01S3/08031—Single-mode emission
    • H01S3/08036—Single-mode emission using intracavity dispersive, polarising or birefringent elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/10—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating
    • H01S3/106—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating by controlling devices placed within the cavity
    • H01S3/108—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating by controlling devices placed within the cavity using non-linear optical devices, e.g. exhibiting Brillouin or Raman scattering
    • H01S3/109—Frequency multiplication, e.g. harmonic generation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/05—Construction or shape of optical resonators; Accommodation of active medium therein; Shape of active medium
    • H01S3/06—Construction or shape of active medium
    • H01S3/0602—Crystal lasers or glass lasers
    • H01S3/0604—Crystal lasers or glass lasers in the form of a plate or disc
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/05—Construction or shape of optical resonators; Accommodation of active medium therein; Shape of active medium
    • H01S3/08—Construction or shape of optical resonators or components thereof
    • H01S3/08054—Passive cavity elements acting on the polarization, e.g. a polarizer for branching or walk-off compensation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/05—Construction or shape of optical resonators; Accommodation of active medium therein; Shape of active medium
    • H01S3/08—Construction or shape of optical resonators or components thereof
    • H01S3/081—Construction or shape of optical resonators or components thereof comprising three or more reflectors
    • H01S3/0813—Configuration of resonator
    • H01S3/0815—Configuration of resonator having 3 reflectors, e.g. V-shaped resonators

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to single mode lasers and more particularly to a single mode laser implementation which may accommodate a frequency multiplying material to provide an intracavity doubled single frequency laser.
  • SLM single longitudinal mode
  • the non-linear frequency doubling technique of the prior art has often been used to produce coherent radiation in the visible and ultraviolet spectral region. Acceptable optical conversion efficiency has been achieved in this manner.
  • many of these frequency doubled lasers suffer a so called "green noise" problem which limits their usefulness in a number of applications. More specifically, the green noise problem introduces amplitude noise (i.e. variation in the intensity of the output beam at the doubled frequency) which is believed to due to gain competition introduced by the presence of additional modes other than one longitudinal fundamental mode in the laser's resonant cavity in combination with the phenomenon of longitudinal mode coupling through a nonlinear doubling process between the various modes which are present.
  • One popular approach to solving the "green noise” problem is to eliminate the additional modes in the laser light (i.e., use an SLM laser) which excites the non-linear material and thereby eliminate longitudinal mode coupling so as to obtain a single doubled output frequency.
  • SLM intracavity doubled single longitudinal mode
  • One approach in achieving SLM operation is through the use of a ring laser geometry.
  • a ring laser geometry In a ring laser geometry, spatial holeburning is eliminated by a unidirectional traveling wave. SLM operation is thus achieved in a homogeneous broadened laser system.
  • An intracavity doubled SLM laser is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,815, issued Oct. 1, 1991 to Nightingale et al.
  • One of the principal drawbacks in using a ring laser geometry is that it is difficult to align and operate.
  • a ring laser is generally more complicated than a simple linear cavity because of the optical diode and reciprocal retardation compensator used.
  • a ring laser is generally believed to be more efficient than a standing wave linear cavity since the traveling wave extracts all the available gain uniformly.
  • a ring laser is not necessarily more efficient than a linear cavity simply because more intracavity elements are required in a ring cavity for unidirectional operation. These additional elements yield more intracavity losses in the doubled frequency ring geometry as compared with those in a doubled frequency linear geometry since intracavity doubled laser systems are extremely sensitive to cavity losses. Obviously, more losses result in less doubled power.
  • the laser cavity comprises an input mirror and an output coupler which define a linear laser cavity.
  • a lasant rod is inserted between two quarter-wave plates.
  • a polarizer and a nonlinear optical crystal are also included in the laser cavity to define the polarization direction of the fundamental wave and to generate output radiation at twice the frequency of the fundamental wave.
  • the laser mode is circularly polarized in the laser rod, resulting in a standing wave in which the electric field vector rotates through the gain medium and in which there are no standing wave nodes within the gain medium. Spatial holeburning is thus eliminated.
  • this approach has its own limitations and is often difficult to implement. First, it relies on having two precise quarter-wave plates inside the cavity. Second, the laser rod has to be non-birefrigent. This requirement restricts the laser to a limited number of laser hosts. Further, as the laser crystal is optically excited, the thermally and stress induced birefringence will introduce spatial holeburning in the gain medium, again resulting in multiple mode operation. From the standpoint of implementation, the complexities of this laser design make it difficult to scale and operate.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,421 issued to Wedekind et al. on Jan. 10, 1995, describes another way to achieve SLM laser operation in a linear laser cavity.
  • a Brewster polarizer and a birefrigent material form a Lyot filter which narrows the frequency bandwidth for single longitudinal mode operation.
  • the major inconvenience of this approach resides in its use of a Brewster polarizer.
  • the Brewster angle is usually greater than 45 degrees and, thus, is not convenient to work with.
  • a Brewster polarizer is not a perfect polarizer in that it only has about a 16% loss for the polarization which is discriminated against.
  • the Nd:YVO 4 is cut 43 deg off of the cleavage plane.
  • the fabrication of such an off-axially cut crystal is not trivial and, typically, is accompanied by a low yield.
  • a plurality of intracavity elements have surfaces substantially normal to the cavity axis. Residual reflections from these surfaces can lead to intracavity etalon and coupled cavity effects resulting in mode-hopping.
  • the present invention provides a heretofore unseen approach and associated method for producing an SLM laser which eliminates the problems described above and which is suitable for use in intracavity frequency doubled applications.
  • a single mode laser implementation which may accommodate a frequency doubling material to provide an intracavity doubled single frequency.
  • An associated method is also disclosed.
  • the laser implementation includes an input mirror and an output mirror defining a resonant cavity and a light path within the resonant cavity and between the mirrors.
  • a lasant material is positioned in the light path for lasing at a desired fundamental wavelength and possibly other, unwanted wavelengths.
  • a first birefringent means is also positioned in the light path for refracting in different directions the different wavelengths of light which are present along the path.
  • a second birefringent means which cooperates with the first birefringent means such that the first and second birefringent means together discriminate between the desired fundamental wavelength and the unwanted wavelengths so that the desired fundamental wavelength is refracted in one direction which causes it to lase while the unwanted wavelengths are refracted in other directions which cause them to be extinguished.
  • light which is produced by a lasant material or other such suitable light source passes through a specifically configured birefringent means such that the polarization of a component of the light at a desired, single wavelength is affected in a predetermined way and so that the polarization of certain components of the light at other wavelengths are affected in other ways. Thereafter, the light is refracted such that these certain other components of light are refracted at angles which cause the other wavelengths to be rejected and so that the single wavelength is refracted at an angle which causes the single wavelength to retrace itself and thereby lase within the laser's cavity.
  • the laser can output a single longitudinal mode of light.
  • a non-linear material may be exposed to a single fundamental light mode within the laser such that a particular harmonic of the fundamental is generated and output from the laser.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a laser manufactured in accordance with the present invention which may be configured for operating as an SLM laser or for outputting harmonically multiplied frequencies through the addition of a non-linear material.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation looking in a direction along the light path of the laser of FIG. 1 from its lasant material towards its output mirror illustrating a relationship between the ordinary and extraordinary axes of a birefringent lasant wedge member and a birefringent non-linear member which form part of the laser of in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a graphical plot illustrating certain aspects of the frequency discrimination configuration of the present invention as to the way in which it provides for SLM operation.
  • FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of a laser manufactured in accordance with the present invention illustrating the use of a birefringent lasant wedge member and a birefringent non-linear member in a harmonically multiplied configuration.
  • FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of still another embodiment of a laser manufactured in accordance with the present invention illustrating the use of mirror coatings on certain components so as to eliminate the need for separate input and output mirrors.
  • FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of yet another embodiment of a laser manufactured in accordance with the present invention shown here to illustrate a harmonically multiplied configuration which provides for outputting harmonic light frequencies which are bi-directionally generated.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a laser manufactured in accordance with the present invention and generally indicated by the reference numeral 10.
  • Laser 10 includes a pumping light source 12 which emits light 14 at a predetermined wavelength.
  • Light 14 passes through a lens 16 and, thereafter, into a resonant cavity 18 that is defined between an input mirror 20 and an output mirror 22.
  • a lasant material 24, a birefringent wedge 26 and a birefringent crystal 28 are positioned within cavity 18, as will be described in further detail at appropriate points hereinafter.
  • a face 30 of input mirror 20 is coated in a known manner to be highly transmissive to light 14 while, at the same time, being highly reflective to a fundamental lasing wavelength (i.e., the light emitted by lasant material 24).
  • a face 32 of output mirror 22 is also coated such that a lasing light path 33 is defined between the two mirrors based upon the intended application of laser 10. For example, if the laser is used as an SLM laser, a partially reflective coating is applied to face 32 of the output mirror such that a relatively small percentage of light (indicated as an arrow 34) at the fundamental lasing wavelength which is incident upon the output mirror passes therethrough.
  • Nd:YVO 4 is the preferred lasant material
  • other lasant materials include, but are not limited to, Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF, Nd:SFAP, Nd:YALO 3 , Cr:LiSrF 4 , Cr:LiCaF 4 , Cr:BeAlO 3 and Cr:LiSrF 4 .
  • the fundamental wavelength and second harmonic wavelength can vary depending upon the specific lasant host and cooperating coatings on faces 30 and 32.
  • the remaining discussions will consider the use of Nd:YVO 4 with a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm and second harmonic wavelength of 532 nm.
  • the use of lasant materials other than Nd:YVO 4 will be clear to those of skill in the art in view of this overall disclosure.
  • pumping light source 12 is arranged such that pumping light beam 14 emitted from source 12 is optically coupled to and directed through input mirror 16 into lasant material 24.
  • Pumping light source 12 may be provided in a wide variety of different forms so long as it produces or emits light beam 14 at a predetermined wavelength that is keyed to the lasant material, as is well known.
  • Pumping beam 14, when directed into lasant material 24, is absorbed by the lasant material and causes the material to lase thereby injecting a predetermined fundamental wave as well as unwanted wavelengths into cavity 18.
  • pumping light source 12 is a laser diode which emits light at a wavelength at or about 809 nm. As is known in the art, laser diodes of this type are readily available.
  • birefringent wedge 26 and birefringent member 28 may be formed from birefringent materials such as, for example, calcite, orthovanadate, quartz or any other suitable such material.
  • birefringent materials include an ordinary axis and an extraordinary axis.
  • the extraordinary axis of wedge 26 is indicated along the direction of an arrow 36 as E W while the ordinary axis, O W , of wedge 26 is oriented in a direction which is perpendicular to the plane of the figure, as indicated at reference numeral 38 by a symbol denoting an arrow which is perpendicular to the plane of the figure.
  • wedge 26 includes one surface 40 which resides in the plane of O W and E W and which is generally normal to light path 33. Generally opposing surface 40 is a wedge plane surface 42. For descriptive purposes, a line 44 is shown as normal to wedge plane 42. Another line 46 is shown normal to the plane defined by O W and E W such that an angle ⁇ is formed between the two lines.
  • birefrigent crystalline member 28 is placed along light path 33 with its extraordinary axis, E M oriented at an angle ⁇ which is preferred to be 45 degrees with respect to E W . Additionally, the plane defined by O M and E M is generally normal to light path 33. It should be noted with regard to FIG. 2 that the various axes are illustrated with respect to the length of light path 33 as if looking from lasant material 20 towards output mirror 22. Light path 33 is assumed to be straight in FIG. 2 for purposes of clarity. However, one of skill in the art will recognize that light path 33 is, in fact, not straight (see FIG. 1) as a result of passing through the various components along its length.
  • Nd:YVO 4 is used as lasant material 24 with 1% Nd dopant concentration and having a 1 mm length along light path 33.
  • the fundamental wavelength is 1064 nm. Operation of this laser is best understood by considering the polarization of the fundamental wavelength during its round-trip travel in cavity 18. First, it is assumed that the fundamental is polarized along the E W axis of wedge 26 starting from lasant material 24. As the fundamental wave goes through wedge plane 42 on light path 33, it experiences a refraction at the wedge plane which is governed by Snell's law.
  • one polarization of a fundamental wave that experiences a half-wave or full wave retardation through member 28 will experience no change in its polarization as a result of one round-trip through birefringent member 28 while the other polarization will experience a change.
  • a fundamental polarization the unchanged one
  • the O W polarization component may be selected simply by adjusting input mirror 20.
  • the output polarization of laser 10 may readily be modified to suit a particular application.
  • birefringent member 28 is normally selected to provide a full or half-wave retardation at a selected fundamental wavelength. Any unwanted (unselected) mode present within cavity 18 will have a wavelength such that the unwanted mode will not experience a half-wave or full-wave retardation through birefringent member 28. Therefore, a round-trip through member 28 will result in polarization changes for these other unwanted modes and differing degrees/directions of refraction upon passing through wedge 26.
  • wedge angle ⁇ is chosen such that after one round trip, the displacement between polarization components of the fundamental frequency on surface 30, as refracted by birefringent wedge 26, is greater than the diameter of the pump beam waist.
  • ⁇ n W is the birefringence of wedge 26
  • L is the length of the laser cavity
  • ⁇ is the pump beam waist at lasant material 24.
  • the loss introduced by the frequency filter configuration disclosed herein (the combination of wedge 26 and member 28) can be expressed as:
  • ⁇ n M is the birefringence of birefringent member 28
  • L M is the length of the birefringent member along light path 33
  • v is the frequency of the fundamental wave
  • c is the speed of light.
  • FSR free spectral range
  • the frequency filtering configuration of the present invention permits a particular loss minimum, for example, the minimum indicated by reference number 49 at a frequency f to be shifted (not shown) to within gain bandwidth range w based upon the frequency spacing between minima as established by the FSR. Shifting loss minimum 49 may be accomplished, for example, by temperature tuning birefringent member 28 or by supporting the member so as to be tiltable against light path 33 using suitable means.
  • loss minimum 49 has been shifted to within gain bandwidth w, its effect is to limit the range of frequencies which may resonate within cavity 18 to a relatively small ⁇ f (not shown) at either side of f.
  • the cavity can only support a discrete number of longitudinal modes within its gain bandwidth. For instance, in the case of a 10 mm cavity length which includes 1 mm Nd:YVO 4 and 5 mm KTP lengths, the mode spacing between each longitudinal mode is about 11 Ghz. Thus, ⁇ f should be less than 11 Ghz, in the present example, in order to facilitate the selection of a single mode for resonance.
  • minimum 49 can be shifted to the frequency of a selected mode, the nearest one of which is indicated by reference number 50, such that only one longitudinal mode will experience minimum loss thereby remaining above lasing threshold, as is required for single mode operation.
  • an adjacent longitudinal mode 11 Ghz away and not shown
  • the 2nd neighboring mode 22 Ghz away and not shown
  • the 3rd neighboring mode 33 Ghz away and not shown
  • Additional losses may be provided, for example, by spatial hole-burning and other such known design considerations.
  • the aforedescribed procedure overlaps the loss minimum of the frequency filtering configuration with the gain peak of the lasant material and also with a selected longitudinal mode of the resonant cavity such that only the selected longitudinal mode will lase, the remaining modes being extinguished due to losses.
  • ⁇ is preferred to be 45°.
  • ⁇ defines the relationship between the ordinary and extraordinary axes of birefringent member 28 and wedge 26.
  • the actual directions in which these axes may point can be varied (i.e., rotated about light path 33 in FIG. 2) in an unlimited number of ways so long as their relative directions define a suitable ⁇ in accordance with the teachings herein.
  • lasant material 24 is placed adjacent input mirror 20. In this way, spatial holeburning will provide additional suppression for neighboring modes. Although it is preferred to place the lasant material close to mirror 20 to take advantage of spatial holeburning for frequency selection, such placement is not a requirement since the frequency filtering configuration of the present invention typically provides for levels of frequency selection which result in single mode operation when configured in accordance with the teachings herein.
  • laser 10 may readily be modified in a way which produces light at a harmonic of any particular fundamental wavelength at which laser 10 lases. More specifically, a non-linear material 51 (indicated as a dashed line) is placed in light path 33. Typically, it is desired to produce light at double the lasing frequency of the fundamental.
  • the lasant material is Nd:YVO 4 and the wavelength of pumping light source 12 is close to 809 nm
  • the fundamental wavelength is 1064 nm
  • the second harmonic wavelength is 532 nm in the green.
  • the Nd:YVO 4 has a fundamental wavelength at 916 nm and a second harmonic wavelength at 458 nm in the blue.
  • the laser can produce either 532 nm in the green or 458 nm in the blue.
  • the fundamental and second harmonic wavelengths may be different as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.
  • nonlinear material 51 includes potassium titanate phosphate (KTP) which, in response to fundamental wave input 14, produces second harmonic light 52 indicated by arrows.
  • KTP potassium titanate phosphate
  • the mirror on surface 32 of the output mirror may be designed as transparent to light 52 such that the latter passes therethrough, as indicated by arrows 54. It is noted that, in this instance, the output mirror is designed to be totally reflective at the fundamental wavelength such that the small percentage of light which is denoted by arrow 34 in FIG. 1 is not passed through the output mirror.
  • the nonlinear material is described as KTP, this is not a requirement. The invention equally applies to other nonlinear materials such as, for example, KN b O 3 , LBO, BBO, MgO:LiN b O 3 , KDP and PPLN.
  • FIG. 4 another embodiment of a frequency doubled laser manufactured in accordance with the frequency filtering concept of the present invention is generally indicated by the reference numeral 60.
  • Laser 60 is essentially identical to previously described laser 10 in a frequency doubled configuration with two exceptions.
  • lasant material 24 and wedge 26 have been replaced with a birefringent
  • lasant wedge 62 and, second, birefringent member 28 and non-linear material 51 have been replaced with a birefringent doubling element 64 which is cut for Type II phase matching.
  • element 64 is formed from KTP, the latter may include a length of 5 mm along light path 33.
  • Lasant wedge 62 is configured with wedge angle ⁇ determined by the previously described expression of equation 1.
  • the overall orientation of the ordinary and extraordinary axes of lasant wedge 62 and birefringent doubling element 64 remain unchanged as compared with laser 10 and as shown previously in FIG. 2. For purposes of brevity, these descriptions will not be repeated.
  • the operation of laser 60 is essentially identical in spirit with the operation of laser 10 in its doubled frequency configuration.
  • laser 60 is advantageous in the sense that it includes fewer components than system 10.
  • laser 60 includes all the advantages of previously described laser 10 since the frequency filtering configuration of the present invention is employed.
  • specific multi-functional components i.e., lasant wedge 62 and birefringent nonlinear element 64
  • FIG. 5 illustrates still another embodiment of a frequency doubled laser manufactured in accordance with the frequency filtering concept of the present invention and which is generally indicated by the reference numeral 70.
  • Laser 70 is similar to previously described laser 60 except that the need for separate input and output mirrors has been eliminated through the use of an input mirror coating 72 applied to a surface 74 of lasant wedge 62 and an output mirror coating 76 which is applied to a surface 78 of birefringent doubling element 64.
  • input mirror coating 72 is highly reflective at the fundamental wavelength while output mirror coating 76 is transparent at the doubled frequency as well as being highly reflective at the fundamental frequency such that light 54 passes through the output coating at the second harmonic wavelength.
  • laser 70 is essentially identical to laser 60.
  • one frequency doubled, alternative embodiment of a laser manufactured in accordance with the present invention is indicated by the reference numeral 80.
  • a third mirror 82 is added which is coated to be highly reflective at both the fundamental and second harmonic wavelengths, 1064 nm and 532 nm, respectively.
  • a light path 84 is defined within the cavity of laser 80 which includes an acute angle ⁇ . It should be appreciated that non-linear material 51 produces one portion 52a of doubled frequency light in response to the fundamental wavelength in one direction and produces another portion 52b of doubled frequency light in response to the fundamental wavelength in the opposite direction.
  • mirror 82 advantageously reflects light portion 52b back toward output mirror 22 such that the forward and backward second harmonic light radiation with the same phase are combined and output as light 86 from the output mirror.
  • the optical path of laser 80 may include a shape other than shown such as, for example, an "L" shape or any other suitable shape.
  • mirror 82 may be replaced with a highly reflective coating (not shown) on a surface 88 of non-linear member 51.
  • the frequency discrimination configuration and associated method of the present invention are highly advantageous in a number of different ways.
  • the use of a Brewster plate is avoided.
  • the birefringent wedge or lasant wedge member of the present invention can be fabricated using a minimal amount of material since ⁇ can be held to a value which is dramatically less than the typical 45° angle required in a Brewster plate.
  • the exact value of ⁇ is also not critical as long as it is greater than the predetermined value established by equation (1).
  • this advantage may in and by itself result in an overall assembly which is more compact.
  • the light output of the present invention is polarization selective at a fundamental wavelength in an SLM laser configuration or at a harmonic wavelength in a frequency multiplied configuration. That is, the output polarization may readily be modified in accordance with the foregoing teachings.
  • intracavity optical surfaces are preferred to be inclined at a small angle off normal to the cavity axis so as to minimize coupled cavity and intracavity etalon effects.

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US08/861,372 1997-05-27 1997-05-27 Single mode laser and method suitable for use in frequency multiplied Expired - Fee Related US5905748A (en)

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/861,372 US5905748A (en) 1997-05-27 1997-05-27 Single mode laser and method suitable for use in frequency multiplied
EP98923740A EP0985257A1 (en) 1997-05-27 1998-05-26 Single mode laser
AU75958/98A AU7595898A (en) 1997-05-27 1998-05-26 Single mode laser
PCT/US1998/010632 WO1998054803A1 (en) 1997-05-27 1998-05-26 Single mode laser
CA002289695A CA2289695C (en) 1997-05-27 1998-05-26 A single mode laser suitable for use in frequency multiplied applications and method
JP11500798A JP2000513155A (ja) 1997-05-27 1998-05-26 単一モードレーザー
CN98805504A CN1258390A (zh) 1997-05-27 1998-05-26 适用于频率倍增的单模激光器及其构造方法
US09/290,130 US5995523A (en) 1997-05-27 1999-04-12 Single mode laser suitable for use in frequency multiplied applications and method

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US6108356A (en) * 1999-03-05 2000-08-22 Photonics Industries International, Inc. Intracavity optical parametric oscillators
US6154472A (en) * 1997-10-08 2000-11-28 Jds Uniphase Corporation High efficiency decoupled tuning configuration intracavity doubled laser and method
WO2001067562A2 (en) * 2000-03-07 2001-09-13 Melles Griot, Inc. Frequency-converted laser with single beam output
US20030043377A1 (en) * 2001-08-31 2003-03-06 Balobeck Joseph J. Laser stimulated sympathetic vibration of molecular structure of a body
GB2385459A (en) * 2001-10-30 2003-08-20 Laser Quantum Ltd A laser cavity including a lyot filter
WO2004030163A2 (en) * 2002-09-27 2004-04-08 Bright Solutions Soluzioni Laser Innovative S.R.L. Method for selecting the polarization of the laser beam oscillating inside a laser cavity
US20040213304A1 (en) * 2001-06-18 2004-10-28 Jaouad Zemmouri Frequency-stabilized laser source
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US20090279573A1 (en) * 2005-08-29 2009-11-12 Kiminori Mizuuchi Fiber laser and optical device
US9312657B1 (en) * 2014-12-02 2016-04-12 Coherent Lasersystems Gmbh & Co. Kg Solid-state laser with prismatic gain-element
US10474004B1 (en) 2018-07-31 2019-11-12 Coherent Lasersystems Gmbh & Co. Kg Birefringent prism for wavelength separation

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JP5732960B2 (ja) * 2011-03-28 2015-06-10 株式会社島津製作所 波長変換型固体レーザ装置
WO2014097370A1 (ja) * 2012-12-17 2014-06-26 三菱電機株式会社 導波路型レーザ装置
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US6389043B1 (en) * 1997-01-17 2002-05-14 Melles Griot, Inc. Efficient frequency-converted laser with single beam output
US5995523A (en) * 1997-05-27 1999-11-30 Jds Uniphase Corporation Single mode laser suitable for use in frequency multiplied applications and method
US6154472A (en) * 1997-10-08 2000-11-28 Jds Uniphase Corporation High efficiency decoupled tuning configuration intracavity doubled laser and method
US6108356A (en) * 1999-03-05 2000-08-22 Photonics Industries International, Inc. Intracavity optical parametric oscillators
WO2001067562A2 (en) * 2000-03-07 2001-09-13 Melles Griot, Inc. Frequency-converted laser with single beam output
WO2001067562A3 (en) * 2000-03-07 2002-04-18 Melles Griot Inc Frequency-converted laser with single beam output
US20040213304A1 (en) * 2001-06-18 2004-10-28 Jaouad Zemmouri Frequency-stabilized laser source
US7233608B2 (en) * 2001-06-18 2007-06-19 Universite Des Sciences Et Technologies De Lille Frequency-stabilized laser source adapted for use as a frequency standard, in particular in the field of telecommunications
US20030043377A1 (en) * 2001-08-31 2003-03-06 Balobeck Joseph J. Laser stimulated sympathetic vibration of molecular structure of a body
US7173955B2 (en) * 2001-08-31 2007-02-06 Balobeck Joseph J Laser stimulated sympathetic vibration of molecular structure of a body
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GB2385459A (en) * 2001-10-30 2003-08-20 Laser Quantum Ltd A laser cavity including a lyot filter
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US20050207457A1 (en) * 2002-09-27 2005-09-22 Bright Solutions Soluzioni Laser Innovative S.R.L. Method for selecting the polarization of the laser beam oscillating inside a laser cavity
WO2004030163A3 (en) * 2002-09-27 2004-10-21 Bright Solutions Soluzioni Las Method for selecting the polarization of the laser beam oscillating inside a laser cavity
WO2004030163A2 (en) * 2002-09-27 2004-04-08 Bright Solutions Soluzioni Laser Innovative S.R.L. Method for selecting the polarization of the laser beam oscillating inside a laser cavity
US20060045148A1 (en) * 2004-08-27 2006-03-02 Photop Technologies, Inc. Low noise, intra-cavity frequency-doubling micro chip laser with wide temperature range
US7471707B2 (en) * 2004-08-27 2008-12-30 Photop Technologies, Inc. Low noise, intra-cavity frequency-doubling micro chip laser with wide temperature range
US20090279573A1 (en) * 2005-08-29 2009-11-12 Kiminori Mizuuchi Fiber laser and optical device
US7826500B2 (en) 2005-08-29 2010-11-02 Panasonic Corporation Fiber laser and optical device
US9312657B1 (en) * 2014-12-02 2016-04-12 Coherent Lasersystems Gmbh & Co. Kg Solid-state laser with prismatic gain-element
US10474004B1 (en) 2018-07-31 2019-11-12 Coherent Lasersystems Gmbh & Co. Kg Birefringent prism for wavelength separation

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WO1998054803A1 (en) 1998-12-03
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US5995523A (en) 1999-11-30
CN1258390A (zh) 2000-06-28
JP2000513155A (ja) 2000-10-03
AU7595898A (en) 1998-12-30
EP0985257A1 (en) 2000-03-15

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